"In recent months" nothing, Disney has always been a hardliner on copyright. It may be an exaggeration, but it is something of a truism to say that you can always tell when copyright duration will be extended – because that invariably happens whenever Steamboat Willie is about to pass into the public domain. Today, hundreds or thousands of books from the 1920s, 30s, and so on languish in limbo when they should be available freely to everyone, thanks to Disney's fear of losing copyright and trademark control over their characters.

When DVD and DivX first hit the scene, Disney was one of the biggest supporters behind DivX, a medium which allowed them substantially more control over who got to watch their movies. (As a result, they were relative latecomers to DVD – in fact, when they licensed Miyazaki's films, including Princess Mononoke, they had to go back and renegotiate DVD rights, because Disney hadn't thought to include them in the original deal!)

Disney isn't just hardline; they're one of the driving forces behind the perpetually extensible copyright. I just hope someday people will realize what they're doing and stand up to it.